Posts tagged with Aquino
Today, the nation marks the 26th year since Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. was assassinated at the tarmac of the then-Manila International Airport. The 1983 assassination is currently regarded as one of the sparks that ignited the last waves of massive public outrage that eventually lead to the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
A few days ago, I appeared (very) briefly in GMA 7′s 24 Oras newscast on a segment about Ninoy Aquino. The segment focused on the relationship between the late senator and the late dictator and strongman Pres. Ferdinand Marcos who both belong to the same fraternity, the Upsilon Sigma Phi. The popular theory, among brods especially, is of course though the rivalry was real, Marcos couldn’t have made a martyr out of his main political rival, and much more so out of his own fraternity brother. Aside form the fact that at that time, Marcos was bedridden and simply too sick to orchestrate and mastermind the assassination, we simply weren’t indoctrinated that way. Marcos also had very little political gain to compensate the great political risk entailed by doing the deed. This may be speculation to some, but for brods who understand the unique personal dynamics existing among fraternity brothers, it is a ‘theory’ worth more than a grain of salt.
Puzzled, the reporter asked me to explain how, in my opinion, the intense political rivalry between Marcos and Aquino, could have existed among two fraternity brothers. I told him (though, all these got cut from the final segment that went on air), it was a natural consequence of putting two ambitious politicians in the same fraternity. I added, that though we were indoctrinated to strive for a prosperous and progressive country, we were free to choose the means to achieve what we believed was for the good of the Filipino people.
Fraternity history recounts how the brods, especially in the late 60′s and 70′s were found in all sides of the political spectrum, from the side of the dictator and his ‘cronies’, who believed in authoritarian leadership to achieve prosperity, to the mainstream political opposition, who believed in the ideals of “liberal” democracy, to the communist left who believed in the Maoist armed rebellion and national democracy with a socialist perspective.
From my experience, I recounted how even in the university today, brods are encouraged to exercise their beliefs and fight for their principles by being active in their own political parties. In UP for example, while most of my brods were leaning towards conservatism and compromise activism, I was allowed to and encouraged to stay in the militant formation I belonged to even before I joined the frat. When I was in the University Student Council, the chairman then was a brod who belonged to a rival party, and a fraternity batchmate of mine belonged to the third party, and we had many principled differences and arguments with regard to various campus issues, but at the end of the day, we treated each other with great respect and still shared many fellowships.
I went to the premiere of “The Last Journey of Ninoy” at Power Plant Mall in Rockwell last night.
The film is a docu-drama that highlights different stages in the life of the martyred senator, form his roots as a brash and talented young man, forward to his long and arduous journey as a politician and a private family man, presented as flashbacks weaved together with the last days of his life as he returned to the Philippines from Boston as the narrative spine.
Through known and new records, plus valuable memories and insights from wife and ally, Cory, audiences are shown Ninoy’s truest ideals and deepest struggles, his indomitable spirit and faith, as seen through all his hardships and all the hostilities he faced.
My mother asked me if I was willing to accompany her to the wake of former President Cory Aquino. The prospect of falling in line for hours instead of studying for class the next day was not appealing at first. But I agreed, paying respect to a good and upright former president never felt wrong.
Yesterday afternoon, before leaving for class, I watched the live coverage of Cory’s cortege from Ortigas to the Manila Cathedral. It was quite overwhelming. Tens of thousands of people lined up the streets and showered the funeral procession with flowers and confetti. I don’t remember Cory being that popular the past years. Perhaps its because the longing for an upright and moral leader is intensified in times when we are beset under the leadership of an evil woman. Cory’s presence, and the leadership she exemplified, though not perfect, is something that is greatly to be missed today. We appreciate something so much more when we don’t have it. Indeed.
The cortege arrived in Intramuros two hours delayed due to the throngs of people that slowed down the funeral procession. My mother and I had planned to proceed to the Manila Cathedral right after my afternoon class, but we decided to postpone the visit till midnight. We thought there would be much less people queuing by early morning. We were wrong. When we got to Intramuros by midnight, the line was still probably a mile long, snaking around the streets of Intramuros. We were able to stand before the casket of the former president after almost two hours.
Last Friday night, I went with some fraternity brothers to the Ayala Museum in Makati to see a special staging of “Ako si Ninoy,” a musical performed by the Philippine Stagers Foundation. It is, as its title suggests, a stage play about the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., and how his heroism is reflected in the lives of several individuals in the present time–a school teacher, a teen actor, a farmer activist, a labor union organizer, and a migrant worker.
My mother told me a few nights before former President Corazon Aquino died, that if it weren’t for “Tita Cory”, I wouldn’t be here. It was a long shot at connecting unexpected turn of events, but nonetheless not unworthy of remembering, as the nation now reflects on how the former President touched the lives of Filipinos and changed the course of the country’s history.
Upon assuming the leadership of the nation after the People Power Revolution, Tita Cory appointed Rogaciano Mercado to the Ministry of Public Works (now DPWH). Together with Minister Mercado was my mother who became his chief assistant secretary, appointed likewise by President Aquino. Through the prodding of a co-worker, who became an erstwhile matchmaker, she was introduced to a budding engineer who was then applying for promotion. And that’s how the relationship began.
Months later, Minister Mercado was dismissed by the President, but the relationship of my mother and father remained, even as my mom left the Ministry as well.
After watching some of her speeches and reviewing several articles written about her and her presidency, I wouldn’t say that I am a fan of Cory Aquino’s politics and ideologies. She was however, up to her last years, undoubtedly a woman of moral integrity and leadership. The past years saw how the former President marched and rallied with the people, despite her failing health, to denounce attempts at changing the Constitution and to denounce President Gloria Arroyo for the corruption that continues to plague her administration. At a time when the country is besieged by a morally bankrupt leader who is assuming the role of Cory’s fascist predecessor, Tita Cory’s presence, and the moral leadership she largely stood for, is something that will be missed. Rest in peace, President Cory.
A few weeks ago, largely in preparation for the IAMNINOY summit we were helping out in, two of my brods and I went to the Aquino Museum in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac to get some materials and to accomplish other errands.
It was just a half-day trip. We left Manila before 7 AM, arrived in Tarlac by 10, did our thing and arrived back in Manila before 2 PM.
It was my first visit to the museum, which apparently has been open for a few years already. They have a very interesting collection of Aquino memorabilia, including photos of Ninoy I’d never seen nor imagine would exist before. On display, too, were the clothes that he was wearing and his other accessories when he was gunned down, and a replica of the room where he was detained for years, with the original furniture and other things.
The place is pretty big. The manager graciously accommodated us despite us being the only visitors that time of the day, and they didn’ teven make us pay the entrance fee anymore.
At this time of the year when the country remembers the horrors and the atrocities of the Martial Law years imposed 26 years ago, my fraternity, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, traditionally gets some flak for, well, being the fraternity of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos and some of his alleged cronies and allies, from Roberto Benedicto to Estelito Mendoza to name some.
The standard way of neutralizing the flak is to invoke the memory of the traditional political opposition that fought the dictatorship, from the likes of Salvador “Doy” Laurel, Joker Arroyo to Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.
Rarely is it done any other way. Today, let me take the opportunity to complicate the apparent contradictions further to invoke the memory of communist martyrs Merardo Arce and Melito Glor, martyred rebels, fraternity brothers all the same, who integrated with the masses and took the armed means of liberation, and from whose honor the names of the Southern Mindanao Regional Operations and the Southern Tagalog commands of the New People’s Army are named after.
Cliche as it may sound, we must always look at our present conditions without disposing of the lessons of the past. At times when basic conditions of widespread poverty and oppression persist, our remembrance must transcend mere commemoration, to a realization that perhaps the same roots that bore the resistance of the Marcos years, has only entrenched itself further and as such, creates similar tragic conditions and creates the need to sustain the struggle for genuine change.
Last Thursday, some of my brods and I went to Tarlac City in Tarlac to join the provincial government’s commemoration ceremony of Ninoy Aquino’s 25th death anniversary. We left UP pretty early and arrived at the province around nine in the morning. Before proceeding to the provincial capitol, we also passed by the municipal hall in Concepcion, Aquino’s hometown, and where he was once Mayor. At around ten, we arrived at Tarlac City to meet the governor, Victor Yap, who is another brod. The commemoration ceremony was held and I was even asked to give a spontaneous speech in front of all the elected provincial officials and employees. We went back to UP a little past lunch time.
That night, we held a memorial at the theater of College of Law, also in honor of Ninoy Aquino.
If the project I was handling with the frat wasn’t in honor of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.’s 25th death anniversary, I would have begged off from the very beginning. All the stress and the qualms are nothing, after all, to the late senator’s martyrdom.
Victor Villanueva
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist